Vocabulary.com - "100 Words Every Middle School Student Should Know."

Analyzing Theme & Comprehending Text

You have two assignments to complete on ReadWorks. The passage, "What's in a Name" will allow you to practice determining and analyzing themes. The passage, "Water Worries" will allow you to practice your reading comprehension.

What is the Iditarod?

Rachel Scdoris Takes on the Iditarod

Agenda:1. Video - What is a theme?2. Video - "Unlovable" What is a possible theme for this story?3. Identify Conflicts in "A Long Walk to Water"​4. What themes can we generate from our novel?

Analyzing Theme

Learning Target:

A theme is a message about life or human nature the author shares with the reader. Themes are stated in complete sentences and a strong theme can be applied to more than one character or situation.

Determine a theme of a text.

Success Criteria:

Generate a list of conflicts

Explain how 3 conflicts are resolved

​Determine a possible theme using a complete sentence.

Video: How do we find a theme?

Video: Unlovable - Practice finding a theme.

How do we find a theme?

We can ask ourselves:

What was the message or lesson of the story?

What did the characters learn about themselves?

What did the characters learn as they resolved a conflict?

Finding Themes in A Long Walk to Water

1. Use the conflict chart in your notebook to list as many conflicts as you can from our book so far.

2. Choose 3 conflicts and explain how they were resolved.

3. For at least one of your resolved conflicts, write a lesson the character learned as a result of dealing with that conflict. Make sure the lesson is written as a complete statement. If you think the lesson could be a theme, record it on your group chart.

*Example: Elmer learns that true friends will like you just the way you are.*Example: Martin learns that sometimes it is best to trust your instincts.​4. As a group, put a star by the statements you feel could be a theme for our novel.

How do you know if you have a strong theme? Can you support it with multiple examples from the text? Does it relate to multiple characters?

Cloze Read - use words from the word bank to complete the text.

When you have scored 12/12 on your close read, raise your hand for Miss Lewis to check.

Comprehension Check - On your own notebook paper

Then, use the TTQA (turn the question around) technique to answer the following questions in complete sentences on your own sheet of paper:Example of how to use TTQA: What class does Miss Lewis teach?Miss Lewis teaches reading class. (See how the answer is written in a nice complete sentence?)​Comprehension Questions1. What was Bruce Lee most famous for?​2. What happened to Bruce Lee during the height of his popularity?3. Why was basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar included in this passage?4. What was the most interesting fact in this passage?

Bruce Lee - Mini Bio: Record 2 additional facts from this video that you found interesting on your notebook paper.

Learning Goal: 3A &3B - Analyze how dialoge or events move the story forward and provokes characters to make decisions.

Success Criteria

Identify significant dialogue or event

Summarize the dialogue or event

Cite or paraphrase text evidence

Explain how the dialogue or event moves the story

Roles for Collaborating to Analyze Story Elements: The Old Grandfather and his Little Grandson

Facilitator - One Person: At each step of the graphic organizer, read the directions and clarify using your notebook.Equity Manager - One Person: Make sure all group members have recorded his or her responses before the facilitator moves on.Reader - Everyone: each group member takes a turn reading a paragraph.Recorder - Everyone: each group member must record all parts of the response on his or her graphic organizer.